Oil and gas well drilling operations may utilize logging-while-drilling (LWD) sensors to acquire logging data as a wellbore is being formed. The logging data may provide information about the progress of the drilling operation and/or the Earth formations surrounding the wellbore. Drilling operations may benefit from improved downhole sensor control from the rig floor and/or remote locations.
For example, the ability to efficiently and reliably transmit and/or receive commands from an operator to downhole drilling apparatus may benefit the precision of the drilling operation. Downhole drilling hardware—such as that which, for example, deflects and/or pushes a portion of the drill string to steer the drilling tool—may be more effective when under tight control by an operator. The ability to continuously adjust the projected direction of the wellbore path by, for example, sending commands to a downhole steering tool, may facilitate fine-tuning the projected wellbore path, perhaps based on substantially real-time survey and/or logging data.
Conventional communication techniques may rely on the rotation rate of the drill string to encode data. However, especially in deep and/or horizontal wells or when stick/slip conditions are encountered, data transmission and measurement can become difficult.